Temporary wet strength resins for disposable tissue products are well known in the art. However, there is a continued need for new resins with better rates of wet tensile decay. The development of new resins often requires new monomers with protected aldehyde functional groups. An alternate approach is to carry out modification reactions on a polymer to introduce aldehyde functional groups. One well known example is the glyoxylation of cationic poly(acrylamide) copolymers. Other strategies that give wet strength resins with better rates of wet tensile decay are still needed.
Accordingly, the present invention describes a method to introduce aldehyde functional groups into a copolymer that results in temporary wet strength resins that provide high initial wet strength and very rapid decay rates.